"They were sincere, for like a god he had stretched forth his hand and closed the gates of hell against them. He knew, himself, that he had done a noble and gracious thing.....and that night he set the incident down in his diary, so that his son might read it in after years, and be thereby moved to deeds of gentleness and humanity himself."
Later on, through Roxy's moral reasoning about switching the children, we see further evidence of a society morally upside down. Specifically, moral correctness is assigned to whites, who set the rules:
"Tain't no sin - white folks has done it!"
Another example includes the honor duels, which are defined by judge Driscoll as more honorable than a legal court of law. In fact, Tom's settling of the dispute in court is seen as morally detestable.
Thus, in much the same way that Stowe uses personal stories to illuminate for the reader that slavery is wrong and should be abolished, Twain uses satire to reveal the backwards morality of the town - especially the moral contradictions of slavery.
"Tain't no sin - white folks has done it!"
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite moment of satire in the book because it is such a perfect representation of how often, slaves were looked down on for any wrong they did but white people got away with everything just because of their skin color. And often slaves were just copying the actions of what they saw the white people do.
I absolutely agree with Jen, that quote was one of my favorite moments in the story, especially because some part of that concept can still be applies to our culture today. Not to say that it's true, but the satire can still be understood in terms of our society. It's interesting to read something written during a time of such racial turmoil and still see the applications of satire in our current society. It really makes you reflect on the ways in which we have changed as a country and also the room we still have for improvement.
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